CHAPTER NINE - REPEL INVADERS!
The snapper-boats came out of the darkness of space, leaving a glowingtrail of fire. They were not graceful. Rip could see no beauty in theirlines, but to his professional eye there was plenty of deadly efficiency.
The Connie fighting craft looked like three globes strung evenly on asteel tube. The middle globe was larger than the end ones, and it wastransparent. From it projected the barrels of two kinds ofweapons--explosive and ultrasonic. Five men usually rode in the middleball. One piloted. The other four were gunners.
The end globes were pierced by five large holes. They were blast holes forthe rocket exhaust. Unlike the landing boats, each tube did not have itsown fuel supply. One fuel tank served each globe. The pilot could directthe exhaust through any tube or combination of tubes he wished, byoperating valves that either sealed or opened the vents.
The system gave high maneuverability to the boats. By playing on thecontrols with the skill of an organist, the pilot could shift directionwith dazzling speed.
Snapper-boats used by the Federation operated on the same principle, butthey were of American design, and they showed the American's love of cleanlines. Federation fighter craft were slim and streamlined, even though thestreamlining was of no use whatever in space. With blast holes at eachend, they looked like double-ended needles. The pilot's canopy in thecenter controlled guns that fired through the front only. Rear guns werehandled by a gunner, who sat with back to the pilot.
Where Connie snapper-boats carried five men, the Federation boats carriedtwo. The Connies could fire in any direction. The Federation pilots aimedby pointing the snapper-boat itself, as fighter pilots of conventionalaircraft had once aimed their guns.
Rip watched the boats approach. He was ready to duck inside if theydecided to look the asteroid over before landing. He hoped they wouldn'tcatch sight of his two scouts. He also hoped his nervousness would vanishwhen the fight started. He knew what to do, at least in theory. He hadgone through combat problems on the moon during training. But this wasdifferent. This was real. The lives of his men depended on his beingright, and he was afraid of making a wrong decision.
Sergeant-major Koa, an experienced Planeteer with a lot of understanding,came and stood beside him. He said, "Guess I'll never get over beingjittery while waiting for the fight to start. I'm sweating so hard mydehumidifier is humming like a Callistan honey lizard. But it doesn't lastlong once the shooting begins. I get so busy I forget to be jittery."
Before Rip could reply, the snapper-boats flashed over the cave, circledthe asteroid once, and landed on the dark side close by the bomb craters.
The first scout reported. "Santos, sir. I'm fifty yards beyond the stakeswhere we had the first base. The snapper-boats landed between the firsttwo craters. Men coming out of one boat. I count six. Now they're comingout of the other boat, but I can't see very well."
The other scout picked up the report, his Swedish accent thick withexcitement. "I can see them, sor! By Cosmos! There be seven in this boaton my side. I am behind a rock forty yards to sunward of the secondcrater."
Rip turned up the volume of his communicator. "How are they armed? Santos,report."
"One is carrying a pneumatic chattergun. The rest have nothing in theirhands."
"Pederson, report."
"No weapons I can see, sor."
Koa looked at Rip. "They must think the asteroid is clean. Otherwisethey'd have more than a chattergun in sight. You can bet they have knivesand pistols, too."
Rip had been playing with an idea. He tried it on his men. "These Connieswould be useful to us alive, if we could capture them."
It was Dowst who caught his meaning first. "You mean as hostages, sir?"
"That's it. If we could capture them, the Connie cruiser would behelpless. We could use the snapper-boat radios to warn the ship that anyfalse move would mean harm to their men."
Koa shook his head doubtfully. "I'm not sure the Connies worry about theirmen, but it's worth the try. We can capture some of them if they split upto search the asteroid. But we won't be able to sneak up on them all."
"We have an advantage," Rip reminded them. "We've been on the asteroidlonger. We know our way around, and we're used to space-walking. They'vejust come out of deceleration and they won't have their space-legs yet."
Santos reported. "They're breaking up into groups of two. Three areguarding the snapper-boats. One is the man with the chattergun."
"Are their belt lights on?"
"Yes."
"Then keep out of the beams. Don't let them walk into you. Keep low, andkeep moving. Stay over on the dark side."
"We'd better get to the dark side ourselves," Koa warned.
He was right, Rip knew. The Connies didn't have far to search beforereaching the sun side. "Koa, you take Trudeau and Kemp. I'll take Dowstand Dominico. Nunez and Bradshaw stay here to guard the cave. If theyarrive in twos, let them get into the cave before you jump them. Bradshaw,how do you feel?"
"I'm all right, Lieutenant."
Rip admired the Planeteer's nerve. He knew Bradshaw was in pain, becausebleeding into high vacuum was always painful. The crack in theEnglish-man's helmet had let most of the air out, and his own bloodpressure had done the rest. He would carry the marks for days. A few moremoments and all air and all heat would have been gone, with fatal results.Fortunately, bubbles didn't shatter easily when cracked. To destroy themtook a good blow that knocked out a piece.
"All right. Let's travel. Koa, go right. I'll go the other way and we'llwork around the asteroid until we meet."
Rip led the way, gliding as rapidly as he could toward the edge ofdarkness. He called, "Santos. Any coming in the direction of the cave?"
"Two pair. About fifty yards apart. They will be out of my sight in a fewseconds."
Which meant they would be within sight of Rip and the others. He knew Koahad heard the message, too. Both groups put on more speed, and reached thesafety of darkness. "Get down," Rip ordered. They could still be seen, ifsilhouetted against the edges of sunlight.
Starlight gave a little light, but it was too faint to see much. Rip'splan was that the Connies would supply the light needed for an attack.
In a few seconds, as Santos had predicted, belt light beams cut sharppaths through the darkness. Rip sized up the possibilities. There were twoteams of two men each, and they were getting farther apart with each step.One team was coming almost directly toward them. The other team wasslanting away from them and would soon be out of sight behind the thoriumcrystals in which the cave was located. Fortunately, the Connies weregoing away from the cave.
A Connie from the near-by team swung his beam back and forth, and it cutspace over their heads. Rip saw a few low pyramids of thorium a few rodsaway. He directed swiftly, "Dowst, take my boots. Dominico, take Dowst'sboots."
He lay face down on the metal ground until he felt hands grip his boots,then he asked, "All set?" Two voices answered. "Ready."
Rip put his gloves on the ground and pulled himself forward and slightlyupward. Since there was very little gravity, the action both lifted andpulled him. He slid parallel to the surface and a foot above it, headingfor the crystals. Once or twice he reached down and gave another push. Itwas like swimming, except that only the tips of his gloves touched theground, and there was no resistance of any kind. He felt Dowst's grip onhis boots, but he couldn't feel the weight of his men.
He reached the first crystal and directed, "Get behind these rocks andstay down. Feel your way. Use me for a guide. I'll hold on until you'reunder cover." He gripped a crystal. "Come on."
Dominico pulled himself along Dowst's prone form, and then along Rip's.When Dominico had reached the shelter of the crystals, Dowst crawled alongwith Rip's body for his guide, passed over him, and reached cover. Ripfollowed.
The belt lights of the two Connies were almost abreast of them. Far totheir left, Rip saw another pair of lights. That was a pair he hadn't seenbefore.
"We'll wait until they
pass," he told his men. "Then we'll get up and rushthem from behind. They can't hear us coming. Dowst, you take the near one.I'll take the far one. Dominico, you help as needed, but concentrate oncutting off their equipment. The first thing we must do is cut theircommunicators. Otherwise they'll warn the rest. Then turn off their airsupplies and collapse their suits."
One thing was in their favor. The space suits worn by the Connies werealmost the same as theirs. The controls were of the same kind. The onlyway to know a Connie was by his bubble, which was a little more tubularthan the round bubbles of the Federation.
Rip suddenly realized that he wasn't nervous anymore. He grinned, lickinghis lips. After all, this was what he had been trained for.
The Connies came abreast and passed. "Let's go," Rip said, and as he rosehe heard Koa's voice.
The sergeant-major said, "Kemp, kneel on their right side. Trudeau and Iwill hit them from the left and tumble them over you. Get theircommunicators first."
Koa had methods of his own, apparently, and they sounded good.
Rip started slowly. He wanted to get directly behind the Connies. Hestayed down low until he was sure they couldn't see him, unless theyturned.
Dowst and Dominico were right with him. "Come on," he said, and startedgliding after the helmeted figures. He kept his eyes on the one he hadselected, and he called on all the myriad stars of space to give him luck.If the men turned, his plan for quick victory would fail.
He sensed his Planeteers beside him as the figures loomed ahead. He gave afinal spring that sent him through space with knees bent and outthrust,his hands reaching.
His knees connected solidly with the Connie's thighs and his hands gropedaround the bulky space suit. He felt a rheostat control and twistedsavagely, then groped for the distinctive star-shaped button of the airsupply.
Rip Used a Flying Tackle on the Connie]
Rip Used a Flying Tackle on the Connie
The Connie wrenched violently and threw them both upward. Rip felt thestar shape and twisted. If he could only deflate the Connie's suit! Butthe man was writhing from his grip, clawing for a weapon.
Rip stopped reaching for the deflation valve. He grabbed for his knife,jerked it free, and thrust it against the middle of the Connie's back.Then he clanged his bubble against the man's helmet for directcommunication and shouted, "Grab some space, or I'll let vack into you!"
The Connie understood English. Most earthlings did. But even better washis understanding of the pressure on his back. He stopped struggling andhis arms shot starward.
Rip breathed freely for the first time since he had leaped, and exultationgrew in him. He had his first man! His first hand-to-hand fight had endedin victory so easy that he could hardly believe it.
He took time to look around him and saw that he was a good five feet abovethe asteroid. Below him, a Connie belt light sent its shaft parallel withthe ground, and he knew the second man was down.
The question was, had either of them shouted before their communicatorswere cut off?
"Dowst," he called urgently. "All okay?"
"No," Dowst said grimly. "We got the Connie, but he got Dominico. Cut hisleg with a space knife. I'm putting a patch on it. You okay?"
"Yes. When you can, pull me down."
"Right."
Dominico spoke up. "Don't worry about me, sir. Nothing bad. I don't losemuch air."
"Fine, Dominico. Glad it wasn't worse."
But Rip knew it wasn't good, either. A cut with a space knife let air outof the suit and created at least a partial vacuum. If it also cut flesh,the vacuum let the blood pressure force out blood and tissue to turn aminor wound into an ugly one.
They would have to bring this spaceflap with the Connies to a quick end,Rip thought. He had to get his men into air, somehow, to take a look attheir wounds. Bradshaw needed attention, and now so did Dominico.
Dowst reached up, took Rip's ankle, and pulled him down. Rip held onto hiscaptive. Then the private bound the Connie's hands, jerked hiscommunicator control completely off, and turned his air back on. Since Riphad been unable to collapse the suit, the Connie was comfortable enough.The reason for collapsing the suit was to deprive the enemy of airinstantly, so that he could be tied up while helpless from lack of oxygen.There was enough air in the suit to last for a few minutes.
The Connie on the ground was neatly trussed. Rip's prisoner joined him.Dowst switched off his belt light. "Now what, sir?"
Dominico was standing patiently near by. He said nothing. Rip knew that nomore could be done for the Italian at present. "Go back to the cave,Dominico," he ordered.
"I can stay with you, sir."
"No, Dominico. Thanks for the offer, but we'll get along. Go back to thecave."
"Yessir."
Rip was a little worried. He had heard nothing from Koa since that firstexchange. He told Dowst as much. Koa himself heard and answered.
"Lieutenant, we're all right. Got two Connies, and I don't think they hada chance to yell. But I'm sorry about one, sir. Kemp had to swing at himand busted his bubble."
"Fatal?"
"No, we got a patch on in time. But worse than Bradshaw."
"Tough." Rip couldn't feel too sympathetic. After all, it was the Conniecruiser's fault Bradshaw had felt high vack. "All right. We have four.That leaves nine."
Santos came on the circuit. "Sir, this is Santos. Only three men are atthe snapper-boats. If you can get here without being seen, maybe we couldknock them off. The rest wouldn't be much good if we had their boats."
"You're right, Santos," Rip replied instantly. Why hadn't he seen that forhimself? He knew how he and Dowst could approach the craters without beingspotted, now that they had removed two teams of Connies. "We're on ourway. Koa, make it if you can."
"Yes, sir."
Dominico was already making his way back to the cave. Rip and Dowststarted for the horizon at a good walk, not afraid now to use theirlights, at least for a few yards. If any of the remaining Connie searchteams saw the lights they would think it was two of their own men.
Rip remembered the lay of the ground, and Santos's description of thesnapper-boats' position. He circled almost to the horizon, then told Dowstto cut his light. He cut his own. In a moment they topped the horizon, andstanding with only helmets visible from the snapper-boats, looked thesituation over.
The three Connies were standing between him and the boats. To the left ofthe boats was the second crater. Rip studied the ground as best he couldin the Connie belt lights and decided on a plan of action. Calling toDowst, he circled again. Presently they were approaching the crater. TheConnies were about 25 yards from the crater's opposite rim.
Rip said, "I hate to do this, Dowst, but I can't see any way out. We haveto go into the crater."
Dowst merely said, "Yes, sir."
The extra radiation might put both of them well over the safety limitslong before earth was reached, and they both knew it. Rip didn't hesitate.He reached the crater's edge and walked right down into it.
They were out of sight of the Connies now. Rip walked up the other side ofthe crater until his bubble was just below ground level. The chunks ofthorium he had ordered thrown in to block some of the radiation madewalking a little difficult.
"Santos," he said, "we're in the second crater."
"Sir, I'm beyond the first, between two crystals. Pederson is near yousomewhere."
"Good. When I give the word, turn up your helmet light until they can seea pretty good glow. Keep watching them." The bubbles were equipped withlights, but they were seldom used. He outlined his plan swiftly. BothSantos and Dowst acknowledged.
Koa reported in. "We're after two more Connies near the wreck of thelanding boat, sir."
"Be careful. Pederson, go help Koa. Nunez, how are things at the cave?"
"Nunez reporting, sir. Two Connies in sight, but they haven't seen usyet."
"Let me know when they spot the cave."
"Yes, sir."
"San
tos, go ahead."
For long moments there was silence. Rip felt for a solid foothold, foundone, and flexed his knees. He kept his back straight and his eyes on thecrater rim. His hands were occupied with two air bottles taken from hisbelt, and his thumbs were on their valve releases. He waited patiently forword from Santos that his helmet glow had been seen.
Santos yelled, "Now!"
Rip's legs straightened with a mighty thrust. He flashed into spaceheadfirst, at an angle that took him over the crater's rim and 50 feetabove the ground. He caught a glimpse of Santos's helmet, glowing like apink balloon, and of the three Connies facing it, one with gun upraised.
Rip's arms flashed above his head. His thumbs compressed. Air spurted fromthe two bottles, driving him downward, feet first, directly at the headsof the Connies!